Baptism

A man is stumbling through the woods totally drunk when he comes upon a preacher baptizing people in the river. He proceeds to walk into the water and subsequently bumps into the preacher. The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of alcohol, whereupon he asks the drunk, “Are you ready to find Jesus?”

The drunk answers, “Yes, I am.” So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water. He pulls him up and asks the drunk, “Brother have you found Jesus?” The drunk replies, “No, I haven’t found Jesus.” The preacher, shocked at the answer, dunks him into the water again for a little longer this time. He again pulls him out of the water and asks again, “Have you found Jesus my brother?” The drunk again answers, “No, I haven’t found Jesus.”

By this time the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk in the water again–but this time holds him down for about 30 seconds and when he begins kicking his arms and legs he pulls him up. The preacher again asks the drunk, “Finally my friend, have you found Jesus?” The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath and says to the preacher, “Are you sure this is where he fell in?”

Humor sometimes is more serious than it is funny. I wonder how many people have been baptized based on someone else’s decision or influence? I bet the number is pretty high, actually. A child or young teen who is baptized because “everyone else is” at this age. A young man or woman who is baptized because the person they are dating strongly encourages it. A person who is baptized because he has heard a stirring lesson about baptism and is convinced that “if I am baptized Jesus will take away all of my problems.”

The Bible teaches that baptism is a response of faith in the life of someone seeking a relationship with God. Preceding baptism is the conviction that Jesus is the son of God, and that he came from the Father to reach out to people who are lost and struggling in this life. Jesus is the offer of God to enter a saving relationship with the Father (Acts 22:16; 1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:27; 1 Peter 3:21).